King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown
King's Quest I: Quest For The Crown (aka King's Quest I SCI) is the remake of the original King's Quest. Background The world of King's Quest is a world of high fantasy, perilous quests, and legendary adventure. It is a world where courage triumphs over adversity, and where bravery is royally rewarded. Roberta Williams' King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown first appeared in 1984, and began a tradition of family computer entertainment... Now this classic game, rich in delightful characters and puzzling plot twists, returns in a beautiful new version, completely re-drawn and re-animated, with added music and sound. The same entertaining and enchanting game as ever, with a whole new dimension of realism. Details The remake includes hi-res EGA graphics similar in style to King's Quest IV. It is more of a 1.5:1 remake, it expands on the story, changes a few details (including puzzles/locations), but stays largely true to the original). The story improvements were mainly in the cutscenes, conversations, and narrations making the story more linear than in the original. Many of the character roles were expanded slightly to include more conversations (or improve on their personalities). Some of the puzzle solutions were altered (changing the points), some item locations changed, and some locations were completely revamped (the stairs in the mountain were replaced with platforms). The soundtrack was also expanded and included better musical queues when different characters appeared or action ensued. Sound was enhanced through use a sound card and speakers. Behind the scenes King's Quest Collections have called this game King's Quest I: VGA, and described it as having an "incorporated icon-based interface" (despite the game actually being enhanced EGA with a parser system similar to KQ4). According to The Royal Scribe, Lorelei Shannon apparently wrote a hint book for this version of the game (although she may have meant King's Quest VI). This game is not necessarily part of the original canon, but it more of a retelling or alternate dimension. However, elements of this version were adapted into other sources of the canon (or secondary official sources). In particular, The Official Book of King's Quest VI, and other spinoff material such as the novel trilogy. The Amiga version has its own soundtrack but also compatibility with the MT32. One interesting aspect of the Amiga version is the use of a few digital sounds not found in the standard DOS version of the game, such as portcullis rising sound effect in the introduction, or the closing sound effect when the game starts. Other digital sounds included in the Amiga version include the water swimming/splashing (by the moat monsters), or when graham falls into the water, and splashes about, waterfall, river sound, door opening sound (witch's house), and bubbling cauldron, among other things. Some of these sound effects or similar digital ones also appear in MT32 soundtrack, but sometimes slightly different sounds, or quieter. SoundBlaster version still seems to have a few digital sound effects such as general splashing sound when falling into the water. Seasonal placement There are a few references which imply the season in KQ1 SCI, a squirrel is collecting nuts, "...before next winter..." (so it takes place before winter), and if you look at the leaves on the trees growing out of the old gnomes house, it says "...broad leaves provide shade for the gnome during the hot summer months..." (which could imply that the game takes place during or just before the summer), and in one meadow it states, '...beautiful spring flowers ring the meadow..." (implying that it is still spring). There is also a death scene involving falling off the Magic Beanstalk, where it says "have a nice fall this spring." Which would also imply the game is set during the spring. There are several descriptions that describe the weather, one description states that the weather is "partly cloudy, with a high in the mid-seventies". Other descriptions state that "...the hot Daventry sun is taking its toll on you", "...the hot Daventry sun is getting to you". Reception The 1990 project to revamp the original King's Quest was widely viewed as a critical failure because many reviewers and gamers took offense at what they perceived as an attempt to "destroy the classics." In fact, the project was compared to the controversial practice of "colorizing" classic black-and-white movies. Valid or not, these reactions essentially stopped work on future attempts to modernize later King's Quest installments.KQ Collection II Manual, pg 4. References category:Games Category:Original Canon Category:King's Quest Games